Definition of take the piss

Look up take the piss in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Retrieved from " https: This page was last edited on 27 February , at Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme. It is also used in English speaking countries such as Australia. Retrieved 7 January
It can also relate to an abuse of trust, such as " You can use my 'phone, but don't take the piss! Equally, a wilfully unproductive employee could be described as "taking the piss" for accepting a wage while knowingly failing to deliver on their obligation, or an employer could be accused of "taking the piss" for making unreasonable requests of their employees, e. Retrieved 16 March Taking the piss is a Commonwealth term meaning to take liberties at the expense of others, or to be joking, or to be unreasonable. Archived from the original on 15 April This would be described as "taking the piss" out of that person, or "a piss-take".

Taking the piss - Wikipedia

One theory is that during the age of the canals in Britain, urine would be brought up the canals to the wool mills in Northern England particularly to Yorkshire , as urine was used in the process of fixing dye to wool. This page was last edited on 27 February , at This was particularly the case when dyeing items blue with indigo or more traditionally with woad , before synthetic dyes were invented or made commercially available. It is a shortening of the idiom taking the piss out of, which is an expression meaning to mock , tease, joke, ridicule, or scoff. In colloquial usage, "taking the piss" is also used to refer to someone or something that makes a claim which is not in line with a recognised agreement e. Views Read Edit View history. The term can also mean to take unfair advantage.